Chocolate that suppresses appetite and delivers oral health benefits has been highlighted in a new survey of confectionery product launches in the Asia-Pacific region conducted by Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics.

Ador Chocolate, launched in Japan and other markets, is a natural appetite suppressant said to help consumers with weight loss and oral health care. It is the first in the confectionery segment to use pine nut oil as a functional additive and the first to use the branded Pinno Thin ingredient.

“New products containing innovative ingredients such as Pinno Thin, with its weight loss and oral health care benefits, are important in helping to predict trends,” said Cesar Pereira, research manager at Product Launch Analytics. “We expect more products containing these innovative ingredients to be filling shelves in Asia-Pacific soon.”

Natural plant source

Pinno Thin is produced by Lipid Nutrition B.V. based in the Netherlands. The company’s website states: “PinnoThin comes from a natural plant source. It is based on pine nut oil derived from the nuts of the native Korean pine tree, which are especially rich in long chain fatty acids, such as pinolenic acid.”

The Korean pine tree is said to contain more than 40 times as much pinolenic acid as other types of pine nuts. “PinnoThin simply offers the highest concentration of this all-natural satiety and appetite suppressant. Its effectiveness has been studied in two human trials,” claims Lipid Nutrition.

Another trend identified in Australia is what the researchers term: Exciting new creations. This refers to fruits and nuts paired with single origin chocolate, herbs and spices which, they predict, will be the new flavour in Australia.

“The most amazing combination in the Baru Chocolate Paired Dragees range is the chocolate, almond and olive blend which should attract the more adventurous consumer,” said a spokesman for Product Launch Analytics .

Also highlighted is WH2Ole; a range of functional water drinks available in New Zealand which are said to aid the feeling of fullness. The drink contains 5 grams of protein and 1.5 grams of fiber per 500ml serving.

Satiety effect

The drink’s satiety effect depends on an ingredient called ClearProtein which is a whey protein isolate developed at the Fonterra Research Center in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Although researchers identify Asia-Pacific as a region of product innovation, they believe it still lags behind developed northern economies. “16 per cent of the innovations identified by in 2009 were distributed in AP (Asia Pacific), compared with 19 per cent in Europe and 63 per cent in North America,” Pereira told ConfectioneryNews.com.

Meanwhile the company values the Asia-Pacific confectionery market at US$ 25,800m last year; 30 per cent up since 2000. The volume of confectionery products consumed in this market is 2,484m kg; a rise of 17 per cent in the past nine years.

The region’s top five chocolate markets are, measured by value, Japan, China, Australia, India and South Korea.

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Chocolate that suppresses appetite and delivers oral health benefits has been highlighted in a new survey of confectionery product launches in the Asia-Pacific region conducted by Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics.